Hal Finney Remembered: The Man Who Got Bitcoin First

Cryptographer Hal Finney passed away on August 28, 2014, after a five-year battle with ALS.

The disease is progressive and attacks the nerve cells that control muscle movement. Finney was diagnosed in October 2009, less than a year after he became the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto.

Nakamoto sent Finney 10 BTC on January 12, 2009, which would be worth over $800,000 today. Finney's role in Bitcoin's early days has fueled speculation that he was either Satoshi or worked closely with him.

Finney always denied being Bitcoin's creator, and no verified evidence has settled the question. His contributions to cryptography and computer science predate Bitcoin, including building Reusable Proofs of Work (RPoW) in 2004, an early prototype cryptocurrency.